Art in spite of itself. The ambiguity of art in the work of Emmanuel Levinas

The present study explores the question of art in the work of Emmanuel Levinas, in an attempt to prove that, far from being dogmatic and marginal in the economy of the philosopher’s work, art plays a crucial, even if unacknowledged, part in the realization of his philosophical project, deriving from its essential and exceptional ambiguity. An ambiguity through which art is felt and seen, without making itself heard; a spectral presence that, seldomly theorized, is nevertheless constant throughout Levinas’s work, in which this study argues there is no “evolution” of the question of art, but a fundamental continuity whose fluctuations should be understood both from the natural progression of his overall project, and from the ambiguity that characterizes art all throughout his work. Hence the adoption of a broad, chronological approach, dividing this study into three chapters, each corresponding to a different period of the philosopher’s work, and a specific moment of his theorization of art. Drawing heavily on Levinas’s Carnets de Captivité, chapter 1 constitutes the “phenomenological moment,” in which the literary question leads to a phenomenological analysis of the aesthetic event dated 1944. Delving into “La réalité et son ombre” (1948) and Totalité et Infini (1961) that bring to light the ontological significance of art, chapter 2 constitutes the “ontological moment.” Finally, chapter 3 examines Autrement qu’être ou au-delà de l’essence (1974) and Levinas’s late essays on art and literary criticism, marking the moment where art and language meet, the “exeget(h)ical moment.” Ultimately, this study presents itself as a possibility of understanding Levinas’s philosophical project through the very question(ing) of art.